Red Cross Premieres Piper the Puppy

Plush toy aims to comfort kids in crisis

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Imagine a little kid sitting on a curb watching her or his home burn down or watching his or her parents scour the rubble of a house torn down by a tornado.

Imagine the Red Cross, ever Johnny-on-the-spot, passing out blankets and such, and for the kid, a little plush toy dog named Piper the Puppy. Imagine the kid comforted, at least a bit.

That’s what members of the Red Cross Dallas Chapter imagine. Officials with the organization unveiled the prototype for Piper during a to-do at the Red Cross Dallas office.

Led by volunteer Suzy Bashore, who came up with the idea for Piper, members loaded bunches of little Pipers onto Red Cross emergency response trucks this morning. Unfortunately, they expect to hand out the first such toy to a kid before the day is out.

It’s not all about distracting a freaked out kid. There’s a corporate donation side of Piper, too.
Companies, civic groups, or individuals can donate $100 to the Piper fund and have their name written on a toy. When that particular Piper finds its way into the clutches of a kid, the Red Cross notifies said organization or individual, and, according to the emergency relief folks, “You feel great knowing that your 'Piper the Puppy' is being loved by a child in need.”

Ahem, OK, despite that saccharine description, it all sounds like a worthy endeavor. It can be scary being a kid.

Bruce Felps owns and operatesEast Dallas Times, an online community news outlet serving the White Rock Lake area. He didn’t have a toy dog as a kid. He had a sock monkey. Ain’t that right, JoJo?